- NYC-SW stands for the New York City Sanitation Worker Exam, administered by DCAS for DSNY.
- The latest notice, Exam No. 2060, charged a $61 application fee plus a 2% card service fee.
- You need a 70% score on a computer-terminal multiple-choice test to pass.
- The exam covers seven job-task domains, from Roll Call Activities to Forms and Reports.
What NYC-SW Stands For
NYC-SW stands for the New York City Sanitation Worker Exam - the open-competitive civil service test that determines who gets placed on the hiring list for uniformed Sanitation Worker positions with the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY). If you've searched this acronym and landed on pages describing a completely different credential, fee structure, or certifying body, you're in the wrong place. On this site, NYC-SW refers only to the exam that leads to a DSNY sanitation career, nothing else.
This distinction matters because "NYC-SW" isn't a trademarked or exclusive acronym - a few unrelated credentials happen to share the same letters. Every fact on this page, and across our NYC-SW Certification overview, is specific to the New York City exam process, not any other program that happens to use similar shorthand.
Who Administers the Exam
The New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) writes and administers the open-competitive examination that DSNY uses to hire Sanitation Workers. DCAS handles the entire civil service pipeline: publishing the exam notice, collecting applications and fees, scheduling test sessions, scoring, and generating the eligible list that DSNY draws from when making appointments.
The most recently published notice for this role was Exam No. 2060. Exam notice numbers change with each new administration cycle, so if you're researching current openings, always confirm you're looking at the active notice rather than an archived one. For a deeper walkthrough of what's required just to apply, see our NYC-SW Requirements guide.
Key Takeaway
DCAS runs the exam; DSNY does the hiring. Passing the exam gets you onto an eligible list - it does not guarantee an immediate job offer, since placement also depends on your list rank and DSNY's hiring needs.
Exam Format and the 7 Domains
The Sanitation Worker exam is a computer-terminal multiple-choice test. Calculators and other electronic devices are prohibited during testing, so all reasoning and math must be done without outside tools. A passing score is at least 70%. If that number feels high or unfamiliar, our NYC-SW Passing Score breakdown explains exactly how it's calculated and what a realistic study target looks like.
Questions are organized around seven job-task areas that mirror the actual day-to-day duties of a DSNY Sanitation Worker, along with underlying cognitive skills the test measures - written comprehension, problem sensitivity, written expression, information ordering, deductive reasoning, spatial orientation, and inductive reasoning. Here's how the seven content domains break down:
Domain 1: Roll Call Activities
Covers the start-of-shift routine: reporting for duty, receiving assignments, safety briefings, and equipment checks before heading out on a route.
- Understanding shift-start procedures and communication protocols
Domain 2: Waste Collection and Removal
The core field function of the job - collecting household refuse, recycling, and bulk items according to DSNY procedure and route logic.
- Sequencing and prioritizing collection tasks correctly
Domain 3: Operation, Maintenance, and Preparation of Department Vehicles and Equipment
Tests knowledge of pre-trip checks, basic upkeep, and safe operation of collection trucks and mechanical equipment.
- Recognizing maintenance red flags and proper equipment prep steps
Domain 4: Communicating Information (Physical and Verbal)
Measures how well candidates relay instructions, hazards, and status updates to supervisors and coworkers, both verbally and through gestures/signals.
- Interpreting written comprehension and written expression style questions
Domain 5: Garage Tasks
Covers responsibilities that happen at the garage before and after routes, including equipment storage and facility procedures.
- Knowing sequence-of-operations questions tied to garage routines
Domain 6: Snow Removal, Weather-Related Conditions, and Emergencies
Addresses how Sanitation Workers respond during snow operations and other emergency conditions, a major part of DSNY's citywide mission.
- Prioritizing actions under changing, time-sensitive conditions
Domain 7: Preparation, Completion, and Review of Forms, Reports, and Logs
Focuses on documentation accuracy - filling out logs, reports, and forms correctly and reviewing them for errors.
- Spotting inconsistencies in sample forms and reports
For a full breakdown of how these seven areas are weighted and tested together with the cognitive-skill categories, read our NYC-SW Exam Domains 2026 guide.
Eligibility, Fees, and Registration
Applying to sit for the exam involves specific age, fee, and documentation rules set by DCAS. Under the Exam No. 2060 notice, the requirements were:
- Application fee: $61, plus a 2% card service fee
- Physical test fee: a separate $20 qualifying physical-test fee
- Minimum application age: at least 17 1/2 by the end of the application period
- Appointment age: must be 21 to actually be appointed
- Education: high school diploma or equivalent
- Driver's license: valid New York State Class A or B commercial driver license with the required tanker endorsement, and free of prohibited restrictions
- Additional screening: physical exam, medical review, drug-and-alcohol testing, background investigation, and residency verification
For an itemized look at every fee involved from application through appointment, see our NYC-SW Certification Cost breakdown. Once you pass, your name lands on an eligible list that typically remains active for four years, though DSNY hiring off that list depends on staffing needs, not a fixed schedule - so timing your application and study around any published NYC-SW Exam Dates is worth doing early.
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Application fee | $61 + 2% card service fee |
| Physical test fee | $20 (separate, qualifying) |
| Minimum age to apply | 17 1/2 by end of application period |
| Minimum age to be appointed | 21 |
| Passing score | 70% or higher |
| Eligible list duration | Typically 4 years |
Why the Acronym Gets Confused
Because "NYC-SW" is a plain-language shorthand rather than a registered trademark, it's easy to run into unrelated content online that uses the same letters for a completely different program - different fees, different scoring, different governing body. If an article you find elsewhere quotes numbers that don't match a $61 application fee, a $20 physical-test fee, or a 70% passing score under DCAS, it's very likely describing something other than the actual New York City Sanitation Worker Exam.
Our goal on this site is to keep every fact anchored to the real DCAS-administered exam for DSNY. If you want a plain-language primer that reinforces this identity, check out What Is NYC-SW? and NYC-SW Meaning - both are written to eliminate the same confusion this section addresses.
Preparing by Domain
Because the test is organized around seven concrete job-task domains rather than abstract trivia, the most efficient prep strategy is to study domain-by-domain rather than cramming randomly. A simple weekly structure that maps directly onto the exam's own content areas tends to work better than generic study advice, because it forces you to spend real time on the domains most tied to daily field work - Waste Collection and Removal, and Operation, Maintenance, and Preparation of Department Vehicles and Equipment - before moving to lower-frequency but still-tested areas like Garage Tasks and Forms/Reports.
Roll Call Activities & Communicating Information
- Learn shift-start sequencing and verbal/physical communication conventions
Waste Collection and Removal & Vehicle Operation
- Drill route-logic and equipment prep scenario questions
Garage Tasks & Snow/Emergency Response
- Practice prioritization questions under changing conditions
Forms, Reports, and Full Timed Practice
- Take full-length timed practice runs without a calculator
For a more detailed week-by-week plan tied to each cognitive-skill category (written comprehension, deductive reasoning, spatial orientation, and the rest), see our full NYC-SW Study Guide 2026. And if you're still trying to gauge how challenging the test actually is relative to your current reading and reasoning skills, our How Hard Is the NYC-SW Exam guide walks through the honest difficulty picture domain by domain.
Running realistic, timed practice sessions on our NYC-SW practice test platform is one of the most direct ways to get comfortable with the computer-terminal format before test day, since the actual exam won't allow scratch calculators or outside tools.
Pay and Career Path
Passing the exam and completing the appointment process is the entry point into a DSNY sanitation career. Current DSNY pay starts at $47,752 and rises to $95,316 after 5 1/2 years, before assignment differentials and overtime are factored in. That progression is one reason many candidates treat the exam seriously rather than as a formality - the eligible list only stays active for a limited window, so getting the highest possible score matters for your standing on the list, not just for passing outright.
For a complete look at how pay scales over time and what affects take-home earnings, read our NYC-SW Salary Guide 2026. If you're still deciding whether the application fees, physical testing, and study time are worth it relative to the career outcome, our Is the NYC-SW Certification Worth It? ROI Analysis walks through that decision without inflating numbers beyond what DCAS and DSNY actually publish.
You can also browse current opportunities and role expectations in our NYC-SW Jobs overview, and if you want structured lesson-style prep alongside practice questions, see our NYC-SW Training resources or head back to the main practice test hub to start a full-length simulation.
Frequently Asked Questions
NYC-SW stands for the New York City Sanitation Worker Exam, the DCAS-administered civil service test used to build the DSNY Sanitation Worker eligible list.
No. It's a one-time civil service exam tied to a specific notice number (most recently Exam No. 2060). Passing places you on an eligible list that typically stays active for four years - there's no ongoing renewal like a professional certification.
You need at least 70% on the computer-terminal multiple-choice test to pass. See our NYC-SW Passing Score guide for how that score interacts with list ranking.
Seven: Roll Call Activities, Waste Collection and Removal, Operation/Maintenance/Preparation of Department Vehicles and Equipment, Communicating Information, Garage Tasks, Snow Removal and Emergencies, and Forms/Reports/Logs.
You don't need the CDL to sit for the exam itself, but appointment requires a valid New York State Class A or B commercial driver license with the required tanker endorsement and no prohibited restrictions, along with being at least 21 years old.